Abstract: A novel path planning method to avoid obstacle based on A* algorithm is presented for space manipulator to accomplish the in-orbit mission. According to the geometric characteristics of manipulator and obstacle, the manipulator model and obstacle model are simplified. On the basis of the inherent geometric characteristic of manipulator, and according to the position and orientation coordinates of obstacle, the collision conditions of all links of manipulator are analyzed. And then, the collision-free workspace of space manipulator is obtained. On this basis, the collision-free path search in the free workspace of space manipulator is carried out by using A* algorithm, thereby, the obstacle avoidance path planning is achieved. The effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed path planning algorithm based on A* algorithm for space manipulator to avoid obstacle are verified by simulation and experiment.

Key words: A* algorithm, Obstacle avoidance path planning, Space manipulator